same anon that asked about shadows ! , i have another question , how does different budgets for different animes change the way it is drawn , animated etc , like how does it go from average to ultra quality like demon slayer for example ..
Ah so with anime it’s a very nuanced topic. Firstly, I want to preface that what I am about to say is strictly from my experience working in anime for three years now and even then I would highly implore to study the Animator Dormitory Project to learn from animators who are PHYSICALLY dealing with the imbalanced system that is the anime industry. ALSO, it is important to clarify more money does not equal better art visually. More money means more time and resources. How you use said resources and time is what determines the quality of art (as well as the quality of work environment for the people making said product). If we were to follow the logic that more money equals better art, that would mean the average Family Guy episode should look like an average Demon Slayer episode. That is simply not the truth because 1) every production is different therefore their needs and overall artistic vision will differ 2) you’d be surprised on how the money is actually spent versus what you think it should be spent on (ie American animated films choosing to do celebrity voice casting which eats up a shit ton of the budget when that could have gone to the production crew’s schedule and needs). So with that, please understand money does not play in the ways you think it does (ie if it makes the drawings better) but it cannot be denied it’s one of many factors. Alright?
Basically, anime is funded through production committees which are a group of investors (such as manga publishers, merchandise manufacturers, tv broadcast executives, etc). In America, we have a similar system known as the AMPTP however unlike America where an investor can invest in cross industry projects (ie. Mattel can invest in toys and film entertainment) in Japan they can only choose one industry. This leaves budgets for anime to not become incredibly inflated like we have here in America (ie most blockbuster movies nowadays). BUT because of this rule along with the rule of budget caps, the actual budgets of full seasons of animes have not changed much since maybe the 1960/70s. To bring it back to Family Guy, the average episode of that show from script to final broadcast has been reported to cost anywhere between $1-2 million PER EPISODE. If you multiply that with the full episode order (let’s say 13 just to match the average season of anime), you’re working with $13-26 million FOR A SEASON.
Anime, specifically TV anime, is not seeing that. Shinkai’s Your Name was reported to have $4.5mil for actual movie production (not including the advertising budget which would make it 7.5 or roughly 8mil). $4.5mil. For an anime film.
$4.5 million is a good (and rare) budget by American TV animation standards for PER EPISODE. Unless you’re like, Disney or something you can afford to do that but most average American TV animation is anywhere between $1-3 million per episode. And the average anime is seeing that $1-3mil PER SEASON due to budget caps. So if we do the math of dividing that $1-3mil across 13 episodes (and I’m gonna do this evenly because this is a hypothetical and in reality some episodes do have more money put into for more TIME and RESOURCES)…that would mean your average anime episode, from script to final broadcast, is only seeing a couple hundred thousand dollars unlike here in American where we have a couple million.
And so at this point you’re probably thinking, “Wait, this doesn’t make sense. How can Your Name look like the way it is if that’s what America could spend on a single animated episode? Why is there such a wide disparity between the actual budget versus the final product’s visuals?” And that, my dear Shadow (sorry if that came off weird) is where we have to talk about communication. You see, even though Demon Slayer might not be seeing the same episode budget like we do in America what Japanese studios have in spades that American studios spent over 2 DECADES eradicating is in house layout and animation teams.
The reason why anime looks the way it is on such smaller budgets is quite honestly because they are communicating with each other in real time. In America, we ship our storyboards to a studio overseas (usually Korea, Philippines, India, etc) where we are basically playing a gambling game of whether or not the overseas studios produce the desired work we want. And spoiler alert: it hardly ever truly happens because of language barriers and these overseas are often not given enough money (remember that means time and resources) to actually succeed. Hence, you go into retakes which cost money and spend it back to overseas which cost money, and then it comes back and retakes are still needed which cost money yet again and I think you’re beginning to see why this system in American studios is awful.
Because the amount of money you spent doing that back and forth with retakes and shipping with an overseas studio who was not set up for success could have been spent on having an in house layout and animation team like they do in Japanese studios.
As someone who has freelanced on animes as well worked at vendor overseas studios for American made productions, I cannot understate how having that instant communication (as well as cultural understanding) can drastically change how things get animated. Being able to talk to your director about their intent for a scene at an instant is much more productive than waiting 6-8 months for a Russian roulette bullet. So my point is, the direct communication Japanese studios have within is the true unsung hero as to why 1) visually beautiful shows like Dandadan or Demon Slayer exist 2) they are able to have such a wide variety of visual styles under the anime umbrella because Japanese studios do value auteurship just a tad bit more than American studios who as of late is homogenizing our media cause it’s “safe”.
Also, another component that can factor into why anime looks the way it does despite smaller budgets is because Japan as a society heavily values reputation. On one hand, it’s cool that artists are willing to come together to bring the vision of an artist they admire to fruition. But on the other, it is often used to exploit these artists into very shitty work situations (ie me when I worked on JJK). It’s such a hard thing to talk about because as artists we do tend to sacrifice our well being for the sake of art but I could understand why someone on the outside might feel confused (or frustrated) that we would choose to put ourselves in a poor situation. Sometimes, you’re just willing to take a lesser pay and tighter deadlines to work on a project that speaks to you creatively. And it really do just be that. But for the case of anime, it is often because these artist want to work with a person they admire so who I am to judge them when I’ve done the same haha. But my point being, because Japanese studios have that in house communication and are more open to artist auteurship there’s just more room to have visually distinctive episodes, animated sequences, designs and so on despite the budgets not being the greatest (if we’re going by American standard of living because it is objectively true that Japan is not as costly as places like NY and LA).
I could go on and on about this but I think this answer has become way too long haha. But in summary, Japan isn’t seeing as big as budgets as you think you are from an American perspective. Anime budgets virtually have not changed that much for decades despite it being mainstream and incredibly profitable. I will add that studios like Kyoani and Ufotable have the advantage of potentially self funding their projects, which allows more creative power to the studio itself rather than having to comply to the production committee’s whims. But those studios are like….rare gems ‘cause they chose to nurture talent and be selective with their art over time as opposed to Mappa who is spreading the talent and production crew super thin by adapting too many shows. What makes the art in anime look that way is more so a result of passion and respect for the craft (as well as they’re just open to a lot more versus American execs who are risk-adverse). It would be great if they were given more money so they weren’t producing episodes on such tight schedules (usually a handful of months before official broadcast) but it’s really a testament of how they effectively allocate the money where it’s needed as well. It’s truly an amazing balancing act in a system that’s equally imbalanced.
Phew, that was a long one but I hope I answered your question. And with that, always remember kids that money does not equal better art. Money means more time and resources and how you use it is what determines the overall artistic vision of a production.
